Withdrawal

[startingover]

Hi,

Am in day 2 at the moment, i know everyone smyptons are different but was reading through the posts there to get an idea of what going to happen these next 7 days. I could always eat after drinking and keep down, hadnt been sick since the night i stopped drinking. Sleeping on and off but can sleep, got shakes in my hands and feel the need to eat more. Sore head would be most of the day for me, feel tired and blood pressure would sometimes feel up. Will i get them hillustations cant spell fits like, scared because i have kids and wouldnt want to risk driving with them and having one. One of the posts was dreaming alot, omg dreaming havent stop each dreaming and none of it making sense. thanks for all inputs as this is all new too me, being drinking for a very long time now and my body has never went with out for more than 3 days without drink so wondering is tomorrow my D day

[Boris Bike]

A lot of people do find day 3 very tough going. However, the good news is that many people find things improve a lot after that.

Is there anyone you can call on to help you with the children if you feel very bad?

[startingover]

thanks boris for the comment, people around me dont know the true me i have hide it well from evryone, so reaching out is not an option, but kids are not bad at school most of the day and after school activites, is just this weekend am worried about

[lamp65]

Well, I've finally done it - cut and stopped completely 3 days ago. I've been thirsty and drinking a lot of water. But I felt sick two days ago and could only eat a banana only to bring it back up. Sunday I couldn't eat a thing - was bringing up brown bile. I kept drinking water, but always after half hour it comes back up. I feel so week and haven't slept properly because of all the trips to the bathroom to be sick.

Does this sound like a withdrawal symptom? Is it my liver getting rid of toxins? I drank some milk today and didn't bring that up for 4 hours - water comes up after about half an hour to 3/4.

I have to keep drinking water, as brining it back up I don't want to ger dehydrated. But the body is saying NO

[faith2be]

Hi all,
Day 3 here, and absolutely the worst so far. I'm hoping it will get better, you see, I never seem to get beyond day 3.
Aiming to get to the point where I wake up feeling refreshed, and maybe by that time, I'll have freed myself of the worst of the cravings, enough to swell my pea-brain into something that can make sensible decisions.

Hang in there everyone

[Grendelslip]

Please keep going come_undone. Day 3 is the worst for a lot of us. It seems like there is not going to be a benefit from keeping off the drink but there is! It takes time. Just remember how well you are doing. I've lost count of the days I started out intending to give up drinking and never made it through Day 1.

Dave

[Sara1971]

I am very worried about the red blotches i have all over my body, will it fade. When with evil alcohol give up. I have no many questions, i do not understnad the answers to, my cannot i have a drink and stop at one or two like normal people.

My nose is bleedy to to my drinking, i have lost al self respect

My parents have been wonderfuk, but my sister has disowned me and who can blame her

Feel so desperate
S

[faith2be]

Belated thanks, Dave. You are so strong, I remember your struggle, and now you came out triumphant.
I got to Day 5 this time. Starting over again today. Have just lined up the empties after my slip, and it is truly disgusting.

Sara, you hang in there. If the blotches are from withdrawal, then they truly must fade. Everybody here has the same basic issue - we CANNOT just stop at one. For whatever reason, that's just it. Be thankful of the support of your parents, and in time, your sister will come round too, especially when she sees the positive steps you are taking.
cheers, all,
CU

[chriscole]

i came upon this story a while ago and its on many medical /health websites,, but as someone who has tried having a whiff of oxytocin during withdrawals i can agree with the small study it did help a lot.

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/15/c ... ithdrawal/

[grendeldave]

Gotta ask Drew. Were you one of the 1/3 of men?

Withdrawal has got to be one of the nastiest things going but it is at least time-limited. It is the head-addiction which I have found hardest. Not so much thinking about drinking as about not drinking. The times I have thought: 'OK I am not drinking. End of. Shut up brain.' But still it went on and on. It does stop eventually but it does get a bit tedious before it does.

[DegenerateFTW]

Hi all - I haven't posted much but I've been checking out this forum on a daily basis. I felt guilty about posting while I was still drinking but now I've stopped....here I am.

Need a little advice here:

I've been consuming 60 - 100 (some weeks are worse than others) units of alcohol for the last 10 years. I rarely drink before 5pm. Over the last 6 months or so, I've noticed my binging is a lot worse, and with more negative effects. Instead of being silly, slurry and wobbly whilst drunk, I've become argumentative and aggressive. I will be absolutely hammered and have had an argument with someone that I absolutley do not remember. I've even had to delete my Facebook account because of arguments with people I can't even remember having. So....with that in mind....

Last week I consumed 50 units, with my last few being on Saturday night. Last night I didn't drink, it was hard and I didn't sleep much but I did it. Today I have woken up with very bad anxiety and nerves and my skin is crawling. I also have flu-like symptoms and an upset stomach. I have some diazepam but they don't seem to touch the sides in terms of anxiety relief. My aim is to go a month without drinking, how hard is this going to be?

How long can I expect the effects to go on for? I stopped in the summer for 2 weeks because I was ill and never experienced any of these symptoms although as soon as I felt better I started drinking again straight away.

At the moment I'm holed up in my bedroom / in front of my computer where I normally am. I don't work so boredom has always been a factor in my drinking. Any tips on how much I should be trying to eat, and what I should be drinking instead of alcohol?

I wasn't sure where to post this - apologies if it's in the wrong bit.

[max]

well to start with get a decent amount of water in you every day, and also vitimum b, eat small and often amounts, so has it been roughly about 8 pints a day on a bad week i need to no exactly what you've been drinking , or on a good week is it more like 5 o one bottle of wine?
im not gunna beat around the bush and i expect the worst symptoms may last up to a week then the anxiety will start to dampen down, how much diazepam have u taken? is this prescribed or have u done what ive done and got some of a mate?
i just need some more info so i can give u thr correct advice as ive been in your shoes

[DegenerateFTW]

Basically I drink a bottle of wine a day, sometimes a little more. At weekends I'll drink a bottle of vodka or gin. I used to drink whiskey daily, but it made my kidney ache like mad. That stuff is poison to me.

The diazepam is prescribed - 5mg for anxiety. What a joke! I need to take at least 20mg for it to even have any effect. I recently found some Oxazepam at my mums house which I pinched since she doesn't use them and seems to have a stock. I believe they have a shorter half life and are only half the strength of diazepam, but having said that - I've tried a double dose of that - and they don't work full stop.

[Lottie38]

Degenerate if I could add a small point - in my humble opinion and I think others would agree - its best o not set yourself a target of a month or anything. Just take each day as 1 day. And even break that down if you need o - the 10 min rule .

[DegenerateFTW]

I'll try that - thank you. I think day by day is probably the best for me.

I think my biggest fear is having a good day. When I've had a busy and productive days and I'm feeling good - thats when I reward myself with alcohol. If I can have a good day, and not have a drink - that will be an acomplishment.

I'm drinking sugary tea. Christ I itch like mad!!!!!

EDIT: What are peoples thoughts on Librium? It's been reccomended to me. Frankly, I'd like to make sure I can go a week on willpower before even attemping it. Do you think it could help me? Or is my drinking not that severe?

[max]

degen was it a litre bottle of vodka?gin ?or half bottle ? im with u that 5mg of diazepam is a joke for someone like you that is trying to come of a heavy amount of drink,
usually 20mg is prescribed for a short period of time say 10 days so that you dont get addicted to the drug,
try not to self prescribe ive done that before mate drop me round a load diazepam ive taken a load for couple of weeks run out dr wont give me what i was taking then your in worse anxiety then when you started.
i admire you for recognising you have a problem which u want to sort the dr should also recongnise this to, your gunna have to go back tell them your going through hell and that the 5 mg is not working for u.
its way better for your body to be on a higher dose of diazepam than drinking as long as its short term.
or u do it the other way round and taper of the drink slowly so u start at a bottle of wine and work your way down until your at the stage where your at 1 glass a day then stop what do you reckon ?
you can also change the gp you see
is there an organisation called addaction near where you live ? as this can help bigtime with staying af

[DegenerateFTW]

Sometimes a litre - although that's lasted me 2 nights. The worst I've ever been was last weekend when I drank a bottle of wine each night, then drank a 70cl of Smirnoff on the Saturday and Sunday nights.

I don't think tapering is going to work for me. One drink and i'm off. Although I should say, I'm never on a mission to get wasted - I drink to feel normal. After feeling normal, I seem to go straight to drunk. There's no in-between period for me anymore. That time where you say 'ok it's bedtime now hehe'.

I've even driven to get more knowing full well I'm way over the limit so that kind of says tapering isn't an option for me.

My GP is aware of my heavy drinking and so is my therapist. I'm also on Citalopram 10mg. She won't increase the dose because she says there is no point while I'm drinking heavily. She's right from what I've read. I suspect if she knows I'm cutting out the booze she may be more inclined to re-think my dosages on both the citalopram and the diazepam though, so that's something I'm going to have to take up with her.

I've just recently signed up with an AF service but have only had an assessment so far. First session is on Friday morning. MORNING!!! I don't even know what those are anymore!!!

Still itching!!! Arrrgh!

[max]

yeh i guess giving u big doses of diazepam with the thought in the drs mind that u may drink on them is putting the dr of iy can be fatal so there not keen, you will have to convince them your dry now

[Rachel]

I've done supervised librium and diazapam detoxes, and never been given enough to eliminate anxiety or even reduce it much. I don't know if that's punishment (!) or if it would just zombify you if they did give you much more. I have always wondered why one can't just be sedated/put to sleep for a few days.
However, in my experience the horrible want to die/am afraid I'll die anxiety only lasts a few days , altoug it may feel like an eternity.

[Gerard]

Librium worked a treat for me: sailed through the first weeks with no withdrawals. It has a sedative effect and also prevents spikes in blood pressure etc. Best to consult your GP, as doing a week on willpower alone is stopping cold turkey and could have serious medical consequences.